1901
World News
• 1st Trans Atlantic wireless transmission by Marconi from England to Newfoundland.
• Fessenden begins experiments in wireless voice transmission.
• Mercedes, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac automobiles begin production
• New York subway system construction begins
• Eastman Kodak company is incorporated
• First Nobel prizes are awarded
• The vacuum cleaner is invented

Birthdays
• Ub Iwerks, animator (1901 - 1971)
• Alexandre Alexieff, pin-screen animator
• Len Lye, animator (1901 - 1980)
• Ted Sears (writer, storyboard artist, composer, animator, director)
• Clyde Geronimi (director, animator)
• Oh yeah, and some guy named Walt Disney (1901 - 1966)

Deaths
• Queen Victoria dies at age 82 after 63 year reign - Edward VII becomes king
• William McKinley, the 25th President of the U.S. is assassinated
• Artist, Henri de Tolouse-Latrec dies at age 36

1902
World News
• T. L. Tally’s Electric Theatre opens in L.A.
• Pathe opens a studio at Vincennes.
• American Automobile Association formed
• The "Art Nouveau" style is exhibited in Paris
• Thomas Edison invents the battery
• New law introduced against hunting Buffalo, saves them from extinction
• First Cadillac car sold in Buffalo, N.Y.
• Czar Nicholas II of Russia, angered by the belief that Jews were responsible for organizing
revolutionary groups and strikes, grants permission for local "christians" to wreak "bloody punishment".
Scores of Jews are savagely murdered and the Jewish section of the city is destroyed.
• Henry Ford forms his auto company

Comics
• Richard Felton Outcault's "Buster Brown" makes his first appearence in The New York Herald.

Deaths
• Artist, Paul Gauguin dies at age 55

Notable Films
• Georges Melies releases his film “Voyage to the Moon”
• "Fun in a Bakery Shop" an Edison studio production

1903
World News
• At 35 yrs old, Windsor McCay begins drawing “Tales of the Jungle Imps” comic strip.
• Ford sells his first "Model A" car
• 1st Baseball World series played in Boston
• Japan invades Korea
• Japanese navy destroys Russian fleet
• Singer, Enrico Caruso records, "La Donna e Mobile" for the Victor Co.

Comics
• Gustave Verbeck's "The Upside Downs" begins in The New York Herald.

Birthdays
• Hugh Harmon, animator (1903 - 1982)
• Rudolf Ising, animator (1903 - 1992)
• Sammy Timberg (composer)
• Hamilton Luske (Ham Luske) (director, animator)
• Taiji Yabushita (Yabushita Taiji) (director, producer, animator)

Deaths
• Artist, James Abbott McNeill Whistler dies at age 69
• Impressionist artist, Camille Pissarro dies at age 73

Notable Films
• “The Great Train Robbery” is released.

1904
World News
• New York subway opens
• Russia's "Bloody Sunday". 100,000 workers march peacefully in St. Petersburg.
Czar Nicholas II refuses to listen to their requests for better working conditions and orders his troops
to open fire on the crowd. More than 500 are killed.

Comics
• McCay draws “Little Sammy Sneeze” comic strip.
• "Little Jimmy" strip by James Swinnerton makes first appearance.
• First appearance of "The Newlyweds" by George McManus.
• Winsor McCay's "Dream Of The Rarebit Fiend" makes first apperance in The Evening Telegram.

Birthdays
• Ted Geisel aka Dr. Seuss (1904 - 1991).
• Friz Feleng animator, director (1904 - 1995)
• Vladimir "Bill" Tytla, animator (1904 - 1968)
• James Tyer (animator, director)

Notable Films
Europe
• "The Enchanted Toymaker", Arthur Cooper. (Great Britain) (live action and some puppet animation)

1905
World News
• Russian - Japanese war ends with Treaty of Portsmouth. Japanese death toll at 457,035.
• Over 1000 Jews are massacred in Odessa, Russia.
• Norwegan explorer, Roald Amundsen finds the magnetic North Pole.
• Einstein publishes his "Special Theory of Relativity" at age 26.

Comics
• Gustove Verbeck's comics strip "The Terror of The Tiny Tads" makes first apperance.
• McCay begins drawing “Little Nemo in Slumberland” comic strip.

Birthdays
• Paul Grimault, (animator) (1905 - 1994)
• Sterling Holloway, (voice actor)
• Art Davis, (animator, director)
• Eric Larson, (animator, director)
• Lev Atamanov, (Russian director, producer)

Deaths
• Author, Jules Verne dies at age 77

1906
World News
• DeForest invents the Audion vacuum tube.
• The great San Fransisco earthquake. Over 1000 killed and most of the city is destroyed.
• Women fight for the right to vote in England.
• Census concludes that the British Empire covers 1/5 of the Earth.

Comics
• Lyonel Feininger's "The Kin-der-Kids" & "Wee Willie Winkie's World" begin at The Chicago Tribune.

Birthdays
• Wilfred Jackson (director, animator)
• Friz Freleng (Isadore Friz Freling) (director, producer, animator)

Deaths
• Artist, Paul Cezanne dies at age 67.

• Notable Films
United States
• Blackton releases “Humerous Phases of Funny Faces”

Europe
• "The Hand of the Artist", Walter R. Booth /Urban Trading Company. (Great Britain) (animated black board drawings)

1907
World News
• Blackton starts the Moving Picture World, the first movie fanzine
• The "Teddy Bear" is sreated by German, Richard Steiff, inspired by President Teddy Roosevelt who
refused to kill a bear cub on a hunting trip.
• Women in Finland are the first in Europe allowed to vote. Only a handfull of States in the U.S. allow
women to vote.
• Lumiere Brothers develop an affordable 3 color photo process, superior to James Maxwell's 1861 discovery.
• Artist, Pablo Picasso develops "Cubism" with his painting "Les Demoiselles D'avignon".
• Ringling Bros buy Barnum Baily for $410,000 and create a monopoly on the circus business.
• 1st helecopter flight in France.
• The "Gibson Girl" is created by artist, Charles Dana Gibson. "A model of femininity".

Comics
• Bud Fisher's "Mutt & Jeff" comic strip makes it's debut as "Mr. A. Mutt" in The San Francisco Chronicle. It's credited as being the first succeful daily comic strip.

Notable Films
• Blackton releases “Haunted Hotel” (Stop motion)

Birthdays
• Virgil Ross, animator (1907 - 1996)
• Connie Rasinski, (J. Conrad Rasinski) (director, animator)
• Art Babbitt, (animator, director)
• Les Clark, (animator, director, inbetweener)

Notable Films
United States
• "The Teddy Bears", Edwin S. Porter /Edison. (puppet animation)

Europe
• "La Silhouette Animee", Segundo de Chomon /Pathe. (France) (silhouette animation, some live action)

1908
World News
• Edison patents the film projector
• Edison forms Edison Biograph studio
• 1st long distance flight by an airplane - 1 km in a circle outside Paris, France
• Ford's "Model T" rolls off the assembly line. Each car takes 14 hours to build.
• Concerns over child welfare sparks the beginnings of child labour laws. Currently, more than
1.75 million children, under the age of 16 work in factories. 6 & 7 year old girls spin cotton 13 hrs each day.
• Cellophane is invented

Birthdays
• Tex Avery director (1908 - 1980)
• Joe Grant, character designer and storyman (1908 -
• Mel Blanc, voice actor - Bugs, Daffy, Porky etc. (1908 - 1989)
• Michael Maltese (writer, storyboard artist)
• Hugh Harman (director, animator, producer)
• Mae Questel (voice actress, Betty Boop)
• Shamus Culhane (Jimmie Culhane) (animator, director, producer)
• Seymour Kneitel, (director, animator, producer)
• Myron Waldman (animator, director)
• George Pal (Gyorgy Pal Marczincsak) (director, producer, animator)

Notable Films
United States
• "A Sculptor's Welsh Rarebit Dream", Edison. (clay animation, part live action)
• "The Sculptor's Nightmare", Biograph. (clay animation, part live action)
• "Humpty Dumpty Circus", James Blackton and Albert Smith /Vitagraph. (puppet animation)

Europe
• Emil Cohl releases “Fantasmagoric” in France
• "Dreams of Toyland", Arthur Melbourne-Cooper /Alpha. (Great Britain) (puppet animation)

1909
World News
• Prohibition spreads across America closing down salloons. Owners opposed to the movement
suggest the results may be that former drinkers will switch to the use of cocarne and morphine.
• Explorer, Robert E. Perary reaches the North Pole.
• French aviator, Louis Bleriot flies across the English Channel.

Comics
• Rose O' Neill redefines the meaning of the word "Cute" when she debuts her "Kewpie" characters in Women's Home Companion magazine. They are an instant hit and spark a merchandising bonanza including numerous children's books, advertisements, and the world famous Kewpie Doll.

Animation News
• At 42 yrs old, McCay begins work on “Little Nemo” 4000 drawings on rice paper. The final film
is hand tinted in color. He uses a corner mark registration system.
• The moving picture industry generates $40 million a year in 10,000 picture theaters across the U.S.
50% of Americans attend a movie once each week, paying as much as .10¢ each.

Birthdays
• Ken Anderson, animator (1909 - 1983)
• Milt Kahl, animator (1909 - 1987)
• Woolie Reitherman, animator (1909 - 1985)
• Al Eugster, (animator, director)
• Jack Kinney, (director, animator, writer)
• Irv Spence, (animator)
• Bob Cannon (Bobe Cannon, Robert Cannon) (director, animator)
• Dave Tendlar, (animator, director)
• Ryuichi Yokoyama (Yokoyama Ryuichi) (director, producer, animator)

Deaths
• Sculptor/Painter, Frederic Remington dies at age 48 of ruptured appendix.

Notable Films
United States
• "The Magic Fountain Pen", James Blackton /Vitagraph. (drawn animation)

Europe
• "Les Joyeux Microbes", Emile Cohl /Gaumont. (France) (drawn animation)
• "Clair de lune espagnol" ("Spanish Moonlight") (ss), Emile Cohl /Gaumont. (France)
(first combination of animated drawings and live action in the same frame of a film)
• "The Sporting Mice", Charles Armstrong /Cumberland Works. (Great Britain) (silhouette animation)
• "Monsieur Clown chez les liliputiens" ("Mr. Clown Among Liliputians") (ss), Emile Cohl /Gaumont.
(France) (puppet animation)

1910
World News
• Boy Scouts begin in the U.S.
• King Edward VII of England dies at age 68. George V the new king.
• Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky (44 yrs old) creates the 1st abstract art painting "improvisation 10".

Comics
• George Herriman's comic strip "The Dingbat Family" makes it's first appearance. "Krazy Kat" debuts as a regular character in the strip.

Animation News
• Raoul Barre begins experimental animation with William C. Nolan. They form the company Raoul Barre to produce advertising films
• Edison successfully demonstrates the talking motion picture (part phonograph/part camera).
• Cy Young begins animating
• John Randolph Bray forms his own studio, produces “The Artist’s Dream” or “The Dachshund and the Sausage”
• Emile Cohl leaves Gaumont for Pathe. (France)

Birthdays
• Akira Kurosawa, director (1910 - 1988)
• Karel Zeman, Czech puppet animator (1910 - 1989) (Treasure of Bird Island 1952)
• Maurice Noble, animation designer/layout artist (1910 - 2001)
• Bill Hanna, animation director and producer (1910 - 2001)
• Robert McKimson, animator (1910 - 1977)
• Charles A. Nichols (Charles Nichols, Charles August Nichols) (director, animator, writer)
• Preston Blair (Preston Erwin Blair) (animator, charcter designer, writer)
• Jack Mercer (voice actor, Popeye, writer, inbetweener)
• Jean Image (Imre Hajdu) (director, animator, producer)
• Pete Burness (Peter Burness, Wilson D. Burness) (director, animator, writer)
• Eric Porter (producer, director, animator)

Deaths
• Author, Samuel Clemmens a.k.a. Mark Twain dies at age 74.
• Painter, Winslow Homer dies at age 74.

Notable Cartoons
United States
• “Chew Chew Land; or, The Adventures of Dollie and Jim”, James Blackton /Vitagraph. (clay animation, part live action)

Europe
• “The Clown and His Donkey”, Samuel Armstrong. (Great Britain) (silhouette animation)
• “En route”, Emile Cohl /Gaumont. (France) (first cut-out animation, animation of paper puppets to avoid redrawing figures for every frame)
• “Le tout petit Faust”, Emile Cohl /Gaumont. (France) (puppet animation)

Timeline Index